The present invention relates generally to electrical connector assemblies, protective enclosures therefor and associated running cable bridging adapter systems. More particularly, the invention is directed to new and improved apparatus and systems of the aforesaid type which facilitate field installation of telephone sets and the like by utilization of easily installable standardized or modularized system components.
Historically telephone installation and repair has required the services of a skilled telephone technician who has been called upon to perform customized on-site wiring, splicing and assembly. Moreover, the proliferation of different species of telephone connector hardware has required that technicans be familiar with the peculiarities and wiring requirements for a maze of connectors, adapters and mounting enclosures, and that the telephone companies maintain correspondingly large part inventories. In an attempt to reduce rising labor and part inventory costs, the telephone companies have focused considerable emphasis on the development of standardized or modularized telephone cables, connectors, protective enclosures and adapters so that installations may efficiently and reliably be made by less skilled technicians than presently requied and so that required part inventories may be correspondingly reduced.
For example, in the installation of multiple telephones in an office complex or residence, it is already a familiar practice to provide a standard inventory of cables having various lengths and numbers of wire pairs with pre-wired and pre-assembled connectors of the male and female variety, respectively, at opposite ends of the cable. One type of connector often used in such assemblies is discl9sed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,335. Such standard cables typically include one or a multiple of sets of 25 wire pairs, although not all of the 25 wire pairs are utilized in each installation, such as in respect of a residential telephone unit or an office extension unit. It is therefore advantageous to make provision for simple and convenient utilization of the unused wire pairs. Additionally, it is not uncommon that the connector on the inplace equipment and the connector on the new equipment may both be male or female so as not to admit of direction interconnection. In this regard, it is known to provide a pair of connectors at each cable and usually arranged in a back to back relation. Examples of such connectors are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,705,378, 3,866,292, 3,876,276 and 3,963,300.
The connector assemblies above-described provide only a partial solution to equipment installation problems. There still remain the difficulties of mounting one or a series of the back to back connectors in an installation environment in a convenient, efficient manner, and particularly the adaptation of mounting units so as to interfit with different types of electrical junction boxes as required by various municipal codes throughout the United States. Additionally, the efficient use of cables including multiple sets of 25 wire pairs continues to pose field installation problems and component inventory problems since special connectors must be inventoried for each type of multiple wire cable.